Chapter 192 – 192. Claire General Store
In the end, what was the standard?
I couldn’t figure it out clearly.
However, if I had to guess, I thought that Ophelia herself truly loved him, and that if she judged that love had cooled off, the execution would begin.
In the end, it creates a situation where Ofelia gives up her self-love, even if only for a moment.
That was exactly the method I used to summon my daughter, and it worked exactly.
The daughter didn’t say anything.
It has a pitch-black shape and only flashes red eyes as it slowly approaches its mother.
“Say, save me! “Please save me!”
Ophelia screams at her approaching daughter.
I was tempted to just leave her alone, but the reason I summoned her daughter wasn’t to kill Ophelia.
“Do you know anything about Claire’s General Store?”
I ask calmly, touching the back of my daughter’s head. But her daughter didn’t show the slightest reaction.
“after.”
I didn’t want to do this to my daughter, the victim.
Black chains rise from the floor and table, binding both of my daughter’s hands.
It was a technique called the necromancer’s chain and was often used when dealing with evil spirits.
[…] … .]
My daughter’s neck gradually turns.
After turning 180 degrees, the girl finally looks at me from behind.
It’s hard to even call her a girl.
It was simply painted black, and only the eyes were bloodshot and red.
As I said before, the form that the soul has ultimately comes from the mind and will.
For example, Stella, who lost her eyes, left hand, and lower body, is still intact in spirit.
In the end, if you can keep your mind intact, you won’t have to take the physical wounds to your soul.
However, in most cases, the wounds suffered during life were still intact in the spirit state.
Of course, the opposite situation also applies.
“sorry.”
Looking at the girl who had wounds in her soul that she did not suffer in this life, I had no choice but to apologize.
How painful and painful must it have been to destroy his soul so much that he couldn’t even recognize its form.
Did you hear my apology?
The movement of the girl who had been twitching her hands to free the chain stopped.
The girl’s already broken soul gradually calmed down and waited for my words.
“Can you answer my questions from now on?”
[…] … why?]
A sound that gives me goosebumps just hearing it, like scratching on a blackboard. I wondered if a voice like this would come out after my throat was on fire.
I knew that the questions I was going to ask from now on would bring back painful memories for the little girl, so I asked her carefully but firmly.
“This is to avoid creating victims like you. and.”
[…] … .]
“To avenge you.”
Her red eyes trembled for a moment, then the girl clenched her fists and nodded with courage.
After receiving permission, I first asked the most background questions.
“Claire General Store. you know that?”
[…] … yes.]
Just thinking about it makes the girl’s body tremble, as if she’s scared.
At the same time, the sound of the chains binding both hands could be heard.
I reached out and returned the chain to Mana, freeing it, and continued to ask questions.
“Who was the owner of that place?”
The Claire I knew was a lively man with a short stature who seemed like a child at first glance.
His characteristic feature was that he had a large nose.
[Tall man.]
‘also.’
I thought she was a different person from the Claire I knew, but the answer did not end there.
[Scary woman.]
‘two?’
[Little child.]
“… … .”
[An old man with a strange voice, a man with twisted hands, a woman without an eye, a scary-looking man, a big man… … .]
The answers keep pouring in.
I wondered if there was some unspeakable magic about the general store, but when I checked, that wasn’t the case.
In fact, the girl was listing the owners of the general stores she had seen.
“Now that’s enough.”
[…] … .]
To put it simply, there really is no way that many people are the owners of a general store.
‘Maybe he’s changing his face.’
It’s a common tactic.
It must be his will not to reveal his true identity.
“What happened to you from that owner?”
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
[ah.]
At my words, the girl stiffened as if she had been hit somewhere, squatted down, and began to tremble.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk about it, but he was suffering just thinking about it, and I was able to figure out why this child’s soul had changed in this way.
‘It caused mental pain to the extent that it even damaged the appearance of the soul.’
Or maybe he dealt with something like necromancy and actually caused damage to the soul.
“Sorry, forget this question.”
I put my hand on the child’s shoulder and tried to comfort him.
But the moment I laid my hand on it, the threads that were building the child flowed into me.
It starts to spread out and wrap around my hand, but then I snap it off.
“This.”
The thin thread that had fallen from the main body was trying to return to the child.
And I realize that this is the way to Claire’s General Store that this kid gave me.
Since the soul itself had been sold and belonged to Claire’s General Store, it meant that if he were to return, the thin thread he held in my hand would guide him along the way.
“thanks.”
We cannot give rest right away. But I can’t keep leaving this child outside like this.
I needed to go back to the general store to save this child.
For that.
My eyes calmly settle on Ophelia.
At the same time, the child’s neck turns back to its original direction and glares at her.
“Off, off! “Get out of here, monster!”
I didn’t bother to ask what the child was feeling. After all, he had been sold to Claire’s General Store and needed to complete the task assigned to him.
“I guess you could say it’s fortunate.”
“W-What?!”
When Ophelia asked me what I was fortunate about, I answered calmly.
“If this child returns to Claire’s General Store, I will find him there and rescue him.”
“Well, then tell them to go back quickly!”
“But child, you cannot return unless you take your life.”
Because the contract has not been fulfilled yet.
Leaving Ophelia alone for a moment to think, I took out one of the bottles of alcohol I could get my hands on.
A liquor bottle that was cold because it was soaked in ice. When I opened the drink, a soft smoke came out and I poured it into a glass.
At least I felt like I would have to wet my tongue with alcohol to see the bitter sight with less regret.
The parents sold their daughter without hesitation.
Likewise, he is killed by the touch of a child without hesitation.
“I don’t like it!”
Sooooooooo!
The daughter’s image unravels like a skein of thread and pours into Ophelia’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
He then stole Ophelia’s soul and placed it inside his body.
Was it because it was done that way that only the soul disappeared without any trauma?
This may have been the case in cases where deaths were determined to have been accidents, but unfortunately, things may have happened after death, such as the body losing strength.
It wasn’t a very nice sight.
Whether you wanted it or not.
Even if it was revenge, the daughter stole her mother’s soul.
But at least.
“Just be satisfied that your death was an opportunity for your daughter to find peace.”
I don’t know if you would be satisfied with finding Claire’s General Store and rescuing the soul of the daughter who was sold there.
That was the only thing I could do for mother and daughter.
Quang!
At that time, the door breaks and the waiters come in. Because there were so many accidents in a store like this, men who used their fists poured in behind the store owner, Porton.
“W-what’s going on?”
When he came in and saw that I was standing there drunk and Ophelia was sprawled on the floor alone, he asked in confusion.
Without much hesitation, I answered.
“He suddenly collapsed. “It’s a heart attack.”
Perhaps you, too, would have responded in this way, feeling offended at the death you gave him.
It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling.
* * *
“Kwaaaaang!”
Aria, who has been chopping firewood in the chilly cold that should still be called winter, roars as if complaining.
Returning to my hometown village after a year.
Not only did I help my parents, but I also piled up a lot of firewood for the elderly people in the village.
For some reason, he kept trying to give me some kind of reward for doing it as a favor, but he flatly refused, saying it was not necessary.
“Why are you yelling? “You said you would help me.”
When Arya’s mother scolds her, Arya pouts.
“It’s not because of this. “It’s because I want to go back to the academy quickly.”
“Hmm? “Don’t you say that vacation is usually better?”
“Not me.”
Aria, who had picked up some firewood that had fallen on the floor while putting it down and piled it back up, stretches.
“Hmm! “What’s for dinner tonight?”
“stew. “It’s a healthy stew with a lot of broccoli.”
“… … “I should have caught the wild boar I saw earlier.”
It was not surprising that wild boars, which had run out of food in the winter, attacked humans, but when they saw Aria, they rushed to run away.
I guess he realized that he shouldn’t attack with his animalistic senses. At some point, I thought animals were wiser than humans.
“Mom, I’m going to go first and heat up the stew, so I’ll leave the stew on top. Don’t let her eyes come and wet the firewood.”
“okay.”
After putting a large bag over the firewood placed in the center of the village so that those who need it can take it, Aria heads home again.
How long has it been since I spent my vacation like this as an ordinary female student?
With that in mind, Aria hummed and headed home.
“hmm?”
A small cabin where I live with my family.
Next to the door leading inside, there was another door.
“what?”
It’s definitely a door that didn’t exist until this morning.
It had a luxurious atmosphere in purple, and a doorplate was hanging in front of it.
– Claire General Store.
“Claire General Store?”
Aria thinks she’s heard this somewhere before, tilts her head in front of him for a moment, thinks about it, and then claps.
“Ahhh! “It’s a secret store!”
A store run by a merchant named Claire who travels around the continent.
Normally, we would meet once in first year, but Aria didn’t know anything at the first meeting, so we just passed by and we haven’t seen each other since.
In the second session, I was busy again, so I didn’t have time to stop by.
“I had bad luck in the first round.”
In the first episode, Deius even told me what to do when I saw Claire’s general store, but I was unlucky and never came across the general store.
“It’s okay, but if you open a store like this next to someone else’s door, will it be useful?”
I heard that the store owner was a nice person but had a weak spirit, so I thought this could be used as a bargaining chip.
He goes home, grabs the heavy money bag containing the adventure slush fund hidden under the bed, and goes straight to the Claire General Store.
I’m sorry.
“… … hmm?”
The dark interior made me feel uncomfortable from the moment I stepped foot inside the store.
Did you originally say it was a place like this?
I had that question, but I headed inside first.
But the more it happened, the more Aria became convinced that there was something strange about this place.
‘I feel unwell?’
I can’t explain it exactly, but I felt the eerie feeling of dozens of eyes looking at me in the darkness of the store.
Additionally, the stalls where products were supposed to be displayed were piled up with dust, with nothing left on them.
That’s the end.
A man sitting at the counter.
I couldn’t see the face because it was covered in darkness, but the hands wearing white gloves were clearly visible and caught my eye.
“Welcome to Claire’s General Store.”
“… … .”
It’s suspicious, but it’s a shame to argue carelessly in this situation where you don’t know anything.
Aria asked while looking around.
“I don’t have any items?”
“We’re out of stock.”
“… … .”
I was about to say that it seemed like the stall had been empty for too long to say that, but the conversation took a different direction.
“So, are you selling anything?”
As Aria asked while squinting, for some reason it felt like the corners of the woman’s mouth in the dark were torn apart.
‘female?’
No, a man who has become a woman.
Aria concentrates on the strange energy secretly flowing through her ears.
Without realizing it, the man became a woman. The woman had become an old woman.
The pure white gloved hand was still there, pulling out the object.
“We have prepared items tailored to the customer.”
know who i am
Hearing the old man’s words with a hearty laugh, Aria suppresses her irritation and checks what is in his hand.
“… … uh?”
What I was holding in my hand was a small ‘soul’.
A soul that had the appearance of a person he knew very well.
Aria felt her lips trembling without realizing it. She has experienced many things in her life as a warrior, but this is the first time she has experienced something so bizarre and terrifying.
It hurts like there’s a thumbtack stuck in the sole of my foot, and it’s constricting me to the point where I can’t breathe properly.
Emotions that she thought had been well buried were blooming in her heart again like buds.
“lie.”
The moment Aria saw the soul, she instinctively knew who it was.
The store owner didn’t bother to mention the product name.
“This is Kim Shin-woo’s soul from the first episode.”
fantasy, game, possession,
